Kataeb Party lawmaker Salim Sayegh sharply criticized recent remarks by Hezbollah parliamentary bloc leader Mohammad Raad, saying he had expected the group to announce a halt to operations against Israel rather than openly defying the Lebanese state.

“I expected that yesterday you would call for a halt to military operations against Israel, understanding that decisions over war and peace are not yours to make, and that you cannot ignore the logic of that responsibility," Sayegh wrote on X in a direct messaage to Raad.

Sayegh said Raad’s comments had unsettled “many political and national assumptions, undermined President Joseph Aoun's initiatives and government decisions, and tried to impose limits on any resolution to this senseless war.”

“Still, they failed to shake our confidence in a State governed by law and justice,” he added.

Sayegh emphasized that the Lebanese State is “not an empty slogan. It is the lifeblood of a nation that exists only through it, and certainly without sharing sovereignty or weapons.”

Addressing Raad directly, he continued: “No one has given you authority over matters of war or peace. Your party’s media maneuvers are exposed and exhausted. Attempts to divert attention from Iran’s support, by claiming this fight is in defense of Lebanon or to ‘liberate Lebanese land,’ no longer convince anyone.”

“Save yourself and your people. Seek real peace. Embracing the State is not surrender; it is a return to yourself and a return to your country," the lawmaker concluded.

Sayegh’s comments followed a video statement on Monday by Raad defending Hezbollah’s record over the past 17 months, in which he insisted the group had fully respected the November 2024 ceasefire with Israel.

“The Israeli occupiers never honored the agreement, not even for a single day,” Raad said. “They exploited our restraint to advance into villages, demolish homes and shops, destroy crops and infrastructure, and achieve in sixty days what they could not do when confronting the resistance directly.”

He accused the Lebanese government of failing to confront Israeli violations and said the push to disarm Hezbollah had emboldened Israel and invited further demands. Raad highlighted Hezbollah’s restraint in southern Lebanon, particularly south of the Litani River, but cautioned that unilateral government moves to assert control over weapons could threaten stability.

“The patience of the resistance has limits,” he said, pointing to Israeli reservist mobilizations and strikes on Iran as part of a broader strategy that could target Lebanon next.

“The missile salvo in response to attacks on Iranian leadership was a message of our people’s impatience with Israel’s arrogance, and a warning against planned full-scale aggression. The resistance remains committed to defending Lebanon by all means available, following the guidance of Sayyid Musa al-Sadr, and fulfilling our legal and national duty," he added. 

Rejecting the idea that Lebanon has free choice over war or peace, Raad said: “Lebanon is not choosing between war and peace, as some claim, but between war and surrender to the humiliating conditions the enemy wants to impose. Resistance is the only path to protect our honor, dignity, and pride, even at the cost of losses and sacrifices—destroyed homes, displacement, hunger, sleeping without shelter, and enduring the mistakes of some of our partners in the country.”